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typhus

typhus

12 8.6
A serious disease spread by lice or fleas that causes high fever, headache, and a skin rash
  • noun
  • /ˈtaɪfəs/
  • Specialized
: tifus
  • Typhus survivors in Mexico are at risk for relapsing typhus fever and are potential sources for typhus outbreaks.
  • epidemic typhus
  • typhus fever
  • typhus outbreaks

I mean, people would routinely die from typhus or scarlet fever or, you know, even, I don't know, just a sore throat.

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Examples

  • White forces were in full scale retreat, the government's authority had collapsed and a typhus epidemic was spreading fast.

  • A 2002 study sampled the seroprevalence of typhus antibodies in 400 persons.

    Academic text (2014)
  • There is no typhus in our city.

  • Four months later, she died of typhus.

  • She died there of typhus when I was 16.

  • The rigors he suffered for the cause helped bring on the typhus that killed him.

    Academic text (2002)
  • 35 miles away, the Athens Brigade reports every other man sick with typhus.

  • Body lice infestation and typhus posed public health problems in Mexico until fairly recently.

    Academic text (2014)
  • USDA scientists in Orlando, Florida, demonstrated that DDT killed lice that transmit typhus and fleas that transmit plague.

    Academic text (2005)
  • During the outbreak, many patients were diagnosed with typhus and required immediate treatment.

Synonyms

typhus fever
vstyphus
  • Specialized
1 7.3

A serious infection spread by lice or fleas that causes high fever, headache, and a skin rash

has identical meaning but uses an alternative common name
rickettsiosis
vstyphus
  • Specialized
1 9.9

An illness caused by bacteria spread by bites from ticks, mites, or lice

is limited to infections spread only by lice or fleas and marked by fever
rickettsial disease
vstyphus
  • Specialized
1 7.0

An illness people get when ticks, mites, or lice spread tiny germs

is the specific disease spread by lice or fleas with high fever and rash

Compounds

typhus fever
  • Specialized
1 7.3

A serious infection spread by lice or fleas that causes high fever, headache, and a skin rash

scrub typhus
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A disease people get when tiny animals called mites bite them that gives fever and a rash

endemic typhus
  • Specialized
1 8.8

A disease caused by bacteria spread by flea bites that causes fever and rash

rat typhus
  • Specialized
1 8.3

A serious disease that causes fever and a rash when fleas spread bacteria to people

murine typhus
  • Specialized
1 9.9

An illness with fever and rash spread by fleas from rats or mice

urban typhus
  • Specialized
8.9

An illness spread by infected fleas that causes fever, chills, muscle aches, and a rash

Surface Forms

typhus singular
typhuses plural

Etymology

The word typhus comes from the Greek word typhos, which means 'fever' or 'smoke' and gives the picture of a mind made 'cloudy' by sickness. That's why typhus today is the name of a serious fever disease that makes people very sick and confused.